L'amour Existe Encore (The Love Still Exists)
by Zanne Chaos
Summary: Elseworlds/AU; Set in post-war New Orleans starting in late April 1945, the Slayers are normal humans, although their lives remain extraordinary.
1. Chapter 1

**L'amour Existe Encore**

  
  
**I know most people skim the Author's Notes and/or Disclaimers, but due to the nature of this story, I feel that it is prudent that new readers at least read the Author's Notes before proceeding.**  
  
**Disclaimer:**  
First off, this an Elseworlds story, otherwise known as AU. Now, The Slayers? Not mine. Sigh. The Slayers are copyrighted 1989-2002 Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO, SOFTX, Marubeni. No money made. Fanfiction only, written because I'm nuts about the characters, or maybe just plain nuts. I'm not sure who currently holds the rights to the movie "The Enchanted Cottage" (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0037671), but it was actually released on Saturday, April 28th, 1945. The title song, "L'amour Existe Encore" (literally, 'The Love Still Exists'), is owned by Céline Dion, and some of the lines I had trouble with were translated with help from AltaVista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).  
  
**Author's Notes:** Factual and historical details are as accurate as possible, but I'd appreciate any corrections. I'll try to remember to include definitions of each French word or phrase that appears in a chapter in the chapter footnotes. This is set in the era it is, and the place it is, simply because I love a great deal about the Post-War era, 1946 up until the late 1950s (the music, the movies, the fashions, and the cars completely rock), and New Orleans has always fascinated me. And for the record, during the war years, the Goodyear Rubber production facilities in Akron, Ohio and other war industries really did recruit a large numbers of deaf employees. Some more information on this can be found at Gallaudet University's site (http://depts.gallaudet.edu/deafeyes/war.html).   
  
I have kept the names and, where practicable, appearances of the original characters. No one is a dragon or Mazoku or a Chimera or a mage of any sort. These are completely normal, ordinary people. The only things which remain the same are the personalities, the names, and I hope the group dynamics for the most part.   
  
One final note. I have no intention nor desire to offend anyone of any race, sex, creed, or disability. I would like to bring up now that I'm female and profoundly deaf, myself. But I would also like to point out that I strive for accuracy, and while I will endeavor to avoid any situations which would lend to sexism or bigotry in the story, I know for a fact it won't be entirely possible, since bigotry with some characters will play a part of the group dynamics. Any terminology used which has long since passed political correctness of our era is due to the fact that this is set pre-Civil Rights, pre-Americans with Disabilities Act, and prior to the Women's Lib movement, which did not really gain a great deal of mobility until the 1960s.  
  
Finally, a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to my Beta Readers ^_^ from Anime Beta Readers Guild (http://zchaos.fanficnetwork.com/animebeta/index.html).  
~ Zanne  
  


* * *

  


**L'amour Existe Encore**  
(The Love Still Exists)  
by Zanne Chaos  
  
**CHAPTER ONE**

  
  
**Saturday, April 28, 1945**  
  
"Bonjour, Père!" Amelia said as she walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the table to wait for the cook to place breakfast before her.  
  
"Ah, bonjour, Amelia, my princess," her father replied, looking up from his paper. "Come, come, give your papa a kiss."  
  
She stood and kissed his bearded cheek lightly, and grinned. "How fares the battle of justice today?"  
  
"Things sound as though they're still going quite well abroad," her father replied. "The news on the radio this morning was heartening. The home front, on the other hand..." He trailed off and sighed.  
  
"Hardly a proper topic for good digestion," the cook scolded as she set a plate in front of Amelia's chair. "Sit yourself down, child, and get eatin'!"  
  
"Yes, Miss Lucy," Amelia replied, flashing a grin to the dark-skinned woman who all but raised her. "It would be terribly unjust if your wonderful cooking went to waste." She pecked a wee kiss on the older woman's cheek.  
  
"Don't you be sassin' me now, missy," Lucy warned, swatting her with the dishtowel. But she grinned affectionately as she did, and ruffled Amelia's short, dark hair.  
  
"What's happening at court, Père?" Amelia asked as she put some of Lucy's blackberry jam on her toast.  
  
"Well, the prosecution rests as of yesterday," he replied, "and the head defense attorney's a sneaky one. Right now, I'm not so sure which way the jury's going to go."  
  
"You worry too much, Mr. Phil," Lucy told him as she refilled his coffee. "The jury'll make the right choice now, just you wait."  
  
"Ah, Lucy, if I but had your optimism--"  
  
"If you had my optimism, Mr. Phil, nary a crook would stand a chance."  
  
"Truer words were never spoken, but I've presented the best case I could, and there's no more evidence or witnesses I can call, so there's not much I can do about anything until Monday." He looked to Amelia. "So, tell your papa what your plans for today are, princess."  
  
"Well, I was thinking about starting my day with a morning ride, and go over to the Inverse plantation and visit Miss Lina for a while," Amelia said.  
  
Phil frowned. "That's a five-mile ride, princess. Take someone with you." He smiled, tapping his finger under her chin. "I'd hate to have something happen to such a pretty face."  
  
She nodded. "I always take Zel with me, Père," she assured him. She couldn't even remember a time when he hadn't been overly protective of her. First her mother had died in childbirth bearing her, and then when she was two, her six-year-old sister, Gracia, disappeared from the front yard.  
  
"Good, good. He's a sharp one, that boy. So maybe his ears don't work like ours, he's shown a good head on those shoulders and sharp eyes," Phil said. "Go on."  
  
"I want to see if Miss Lina wants to catch a matinee. There's a new movie out today, called _The Enchanted Cottage_, and it sounds so wonderful!"  
  
"Eh?" Phil turned a page of the newspaper. "What's it about?"  
  
"It's about the power of true love, and how it conquers all," Amelia replied dreamily.  
  
"Sounds like a fairy tale to me," Lucy commented.  
  
"It's the very best kind! A maid and a scarred soldier find beauty in their love, and in each other, and their love transforms them!" She paused, thinking. "At least that's what I think the trailers said."  
  
"Let me know how it goes," Phil said.  
  
"I will!" Amelia hurriedly finished her breakfast as her enthusiasm increased, thinking about her day. More specifically, perhaps, about whom she'd see that day. "Père, I was also thinking, I might keep the horses at the Inverse stables and ride back later tonight. I thought maybe Zel would like to come to the movies with us."  
  
"That's my princess!" Phil said, and reached over to ruffle her hair. "You've turned into quite a young lady."  
  
The sixteen-year-old girl grinned, but her reasons for inviting Zel weren't just about her father's lessons in treating people equally, even those below her. Maybe, just maybe, he'd get the hint she hoped the movie would have.  
  


* * *

  
"Wake up, Miss Lina! It's almost nine!" Lina groaned and pulled the blankets farther over her head. "No school, lemme sleep."  
  
"The early bird catches the worm."  
  
"Good for him. I hate worms."  
  
"Then how would you like catching some of my blueberry pancakes, hmm?"  
  
That did it. Lina sat up as if she'd been tapped with a cattle prod, squinting against the glare of the light as the housekeeper opened her curtains. She collapsed back on the bed, covering herself.  
  
"Ah! Sunlight! Sun bad!"  
  
"I'd swear you were part owl, child, now get yourself outta bed. I gots laundry to do today, and you're sleepin' in it."  
  
"But, Dalia, it's so early!" Lina whined as she reluctantly got to her feet, stretching mightily as she did. A few seconds later, the combined effects of standing and stretching had her sitting down heavily as her knees gave way, and she blinked rapidly to ward off the encroaching darkness in her eyes. Woo. Head rush. She gave herself a quick shake and stood again, more cautiously this time.  
  
"Every morning it's the same thing, girl. You'd think by now you'd learn not to do that," the older woman chided.  
  
"Yeah, but it feels good." Lina shot her a sleepy grin.  
  
"You're a strange one, Miss Lina," Dalia said, chuckling. "Now get you down to the kitchen. There's a stack of pancakes with your name on it."  
  
She didn't have to be told again. Lina bolted from her room and trotted down the wide, sloping staircase, holding up the hem of her nightgown just enough to keep from tripping over it. Her mother stood in the main foyer, looking in the mirror as she pulled on gloves, and glanced to Lina before sighing in exasperation.  
  
"How many times have I told you," her mother began in on the familiar lecture as Lina reached the bottom of the stairs, "that it's simply improper and unbecoming of a young woman your age to go cavorting about in her sleepwear? Get dressed first, and _then_ eat breakfast.  
  
"Yes, Mommy," Lina recited in mock-contriteness.  
  
Her mother shook her head. "You're impossible."  
  
Lina grinned. "Yes, Mommy."  
  
Her mother's lips twitched in amusement. "Well, see to it you get dressed _sometime_ today. You need to go by the seamstress' shop. She called. Your prom gown is finished being altered."  
  
Lina nodded. "Where you going?"  
  
"Lina, it's 'where _are_ you going'. Hmph. Really." Her mother looked back into the mirror, presumably smoothing some hair back under the hat she wore which matched her periwinkle blue dress, although as far as Lina could see, nary a hair was out of place. "Mrs. Gabriev is coming over, and we're going to the Rotary meeting."  
  
Lina stretched again, standing on the tips of her toes as she reached above her head. "Have fun." She padded into the kitchen and plopped down on a chair, digging into the promised pancakes.  
  
Halfway into her breakfast, a second fork appeared over her shoulder and cut into her pancakes. Lina shrieked in indignation and jabbed her own fork into the hand that held the new arrival.  
  
"Ow! Lina!"  
  
She glared over her shoulder at Gourry Gabriev, who was rubbing his injured hand. "That's what you get for trying to steal my pancakes, jellyfish."  
  
"Are you always this pleasant first thing in the morning?"  
  
"No, I'm usually worse."  
  
He smirked, and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, and when he drew back, Lina realized in dismay that he had managed to be successful in grabbing his coveted bite of pancakes. For that little diversion, she hit him solidly on his arm, scowling.  
  
"You hit like a boy," he teased, sitting down beside her at the table. "But then, you're built like--"  
  
He never had a chance to finish that sentence. She punched him solidly in the shoulder, causing him to nearly topple out of his chair. "You finish that sentence, jellyfish, and I'll finish you!" Lina threatened, and huffed, turning back to her breakfast. "What're you doing here anyway? I thought you weren't coming over till later."  
  
"Yeah, I offered to drive Mom over here. I have some errands I need to run, and when your mom said you were awake, I thought I'd come in and bother you."  
  
"You always bother me."  
  
"Gee, Lina, love you too." His tone was dry, but he grinned when he said it.  
  
She smirked at him. "Well, you can't follow me around on my errands today," she announced.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"My dress is done, and you're not seeing it until next Friday."  
  
"Are you at least gonna tell me what color it is?"  
  
"Why?" She eyed him suspiciously.  
  
"My mom told me to find out so I get a corsage that looks good."  
  
"You know what color a violet is?"  
  
"No."  
  
Lina stared at him and let her head thunk onto the table. "You jellyfish. A violet is violet."  
  
"Oh." He frowned. "Wait, if violets are violets, then why does that poem say they're blue?"  
  
"I don't know, Gourry," Lina said tiredly. "But stick between that color and cornflower blue, and you'll be fine."  
  
"Cornflower blue? But isn't corn yellow?"  
  
Lina stared at him. "Are you doing this on purpose?"  
  
Gourry took advantage of her brief lapse into astonishment to snag yet another bite of her pancakes.  
  
"Hey!" She kicked him under the table. "Those're mine! Don't you have food at your house?"  
  
"Yeah, but I like these!"  
  
"Quit eating my food! I'm going to waste away into nothing."  
  
"Lina, you're a bottomless pit."  
  
"I am not a bottomless pit!" Lina huffed. "I'm just very energetic. Besides, Dalia says it's not surprising I use up more energy than others." She said that last sentence in a near-whisper.  
  
"How's that going anyway?" Gourry asked in equally low tones, crossing his arms over the table and leaning closer.  
  
"I'm learning a lot," Lina replied. "Dalia's impressed at how fast I'm picking up things, and how much skill I've got at tapping into and focusing my kundalini."  
  
"Kundawha?"  
  
"The river that flows inside," Lina started to explain, and at Gourry's blank look, she shook her head. "Never mind."  
  
"You're still not gonna tell me a lot about it, are you?"  
  
Lina shook her head. "I don't think you'd understand. It took me a little while to understand everything Dalia was telling me about voodoo."  
  
Gourry smiled. "That's okay, Lina. As long as you understand, that's what counts. I'm not the one studying it."  
  
"You really don't mind, do you." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.  
  
Gourry shook his head. "I trust you, Lina. Besides, how long have we known each other? I know you're not like your mom, or your sister. Being a social debutante or signing up in the WAC isn't for you. If you're good at something, you oughta learn how to do it. I'm not going to college. My marks aren't good enough. You know it's still not even certain I'm gonna graduate. But I'm good with a sword, and I know what to look for in one. I wanna learn how to forge them. My parents think I'm crazy, but I say, stick to what you like, and stick to what you know."  
  
Lina smiled. "Not many people would understand that."  
  
"That's why we've been best friends ever since third grade, when I mistook you for a boy and you beat my head against the jungle gym," he replied, grinning broadly.  
  
"I still say you deserved it," she replied, huffing indignantly.  
  
Gourry smirked, getting back to his feet. "I'll see you later today?" he asked. "I've gotta take the car in for a tune-up."  
  
"Okay. I'll call you, or run into you, or whatever," Lina replied.  
  


* * *

  
It was only midmorning, but the humidity coming in off the Gulf was making the spring heat oppressive. Some of the stableboys were being lazy, and from their expressions, complaining about the heat. Zelgadis ignored it; he'd spent his entire life in the Deep South, starting out in Atlanta, then working his way west after his parents' death. While the other grooms tended to the horses' morning care before turning them out into the pasture, he was usually assigned to cleaning out the stalls, even though that was a job for a stableboy. To make it worse, he usually wound up doing most of the stalls himself. It didn't matter, though. They would never get out of this town, most of them. He, on the other hand, someday, he'd get all the way to Washington D.C.. The others, they wasted their money on frivolous things, but Zelgadis squirreled it away. He'd get into Gallaudet College.  
  
The war had done a few things in his favor; the hearing public had to acknowledge the contribution the deaf community gave the war effort, especially with the Goodyear company. Zelgadis smirked slightly as he lifted the pitchfork, dumping used straw and manure into the wheelbarrow. That had to stick in his grandfather's craw.  
  
His parents had been the ones who first told Zelgadis about Gallaudet, and he never gave up the idea of going there someday and eventually becoming a doctor. It was from them that he first learned how to read and write, and his mother learned sign language and regularly interpreted radio broadcasts for him.  
  
His mother's father hadn't been quite as enthusiastic about Zelgadis' education, and even less so regarding Zelgadis' ambitions to be a doctor. He viciously jabbed the pitchfork into the straw, clenching his teeth as he recalled what Rezo had said. No one would want to be the patient of a deaf-mute, and being a doctor would take more intelligence than someone like Zelgadis had. He suspected the real reason behind it, but couldn't prove it. The old man was a rather prominent doctor in Atlanta, and he was likely embarrassed by the possibility of having his handicapped grandson as a partner, or more likely, competition.  
  
But Zelgadis wasn't interested in taking on patients. He wanted to become a doctor to find a cure for deafness, or at least a reasonable treatment. There had to be something, some way.  
  
Everything came to a halt ten years ago, when his parents had been killed in an automotive accident. Rezo had tried to institutionalize the nine-year-old boy, and in rebellion, Zelgadis ran away, and never looked back. For three, almost four years, he went west, working at various odd jobs, moving from one town to another by hitchhiking, walking, and riding boxcars.  
  
Then, when he arrived in New Orleans six years ago, one event led to another, and ultimately resulted in one of the city's attorneys offering him a job. Phil Seyruun was a big bear of a man, but Zelgadis soon learned he was also fair.  
  
That was why he stayed. He was paid and promoted just like everyone else. That was the only reason. Nothing else kept him there.  
  
Except for the source of the tug he felt at his sleeve. It was only years of practice that kept his face impassive as he turned to meet two eager and vivid blue eyes.  
  
"Good morning!" Amelia said, grinning cheerfully. Her lips moved as she spoke, but so did her fingers. When he first met her, at age ten, she was determined to learn how to talk to him, and hounded him relentlessly until he finally gave in. What surprised him was how quickly she learned.  
  
Zelgadis nodded a greeting, not stopping as he continued cleaning the stall. He wouldn't treat her any differently. He wouldn't let on, not until he had his degree. Not until he was somebody, and not just some deaf-mute, barely-educated kid.  
  
"I want to go riding today, so would you come with me?" she asked, and again he nodded, taking in the jodhpurs and boots she wore. Damn, but she looked good.  
  
He stood straighter and beckoned one of the slacking stableboys over to take up the task. "When do you want to leave?" he asked, not with any sound, but with fast-moving, nimble fingers.  
  
"Soon," she replied, then hesitated.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I can wait though, if you want to get cleaned up. I was going to Lina's and I want to catch a matinee, and I was wondering if you'd go with me."  
  
He blinked, staring at her a bit dumbfounded as he uncrossed his arms. "You're asking me to go to a movie with you?"  
  
Amelia bit her bottom lip as her cheeks turned pink, and nodded vigorously. "Please, Mr. Zelgadis?"  
  
He twitched slightly. She had called him that from day one, and no matter how many times he tried to explain that she was above his station, that she shouldn't even call him that, she refused to relent. Hmph. Women. "I'll think about it."  
  
Amelia grinned brightly. "I'll even interpret it for you," she told him. "It'll be fun!"  
  
Somehow, Zelgadis doubted that. As a Graywords, he wasn't below her station, but as a groom in her father's stable, he was. Spending that much time with her, going to the movies -- isn't that what people on dates did? -- was going to be murder. It was too much to hope that she wouldn't be married and settled down by the time he saved up enough to go to Gallaudet, and get his doctorate. "I'll get ready," he replied. "Please tell Collins that I want the bay gelding."  
  
"I will!" For a moment, he thought she might hug him, and backed up in surprise, but she merely gave him a dazzling grin before darting out of the stall.  
  
Zelgadis restrained himself from thunking his head on the wall in exasperation. _What the hell. Chances like this are once in a lifetime. Might as well go for it and keep the memory._  
  


* * *

  
Bonjour - Good Morning  
Père - Father   
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:** If you're wondering, _The Illusion of Truth_'s sequel, _All Through the Night_ is currently being written; I just haven't posted any of the chapters yet, because I'm still waiting to hear back from someone regarding some details in chapter one.  
~ Zanne  
  


* * *

  


**L'amour Existe Encore**  
**CHAPTER TWO**

  
  
Gourry turned the wheel, pulling into the gas station for the '41 Woody's routine checkup and oil change. He stretched out the time between servicing as much as he could, or rather, as much as he could tolerate. His father always taught him the importance of taking good care of the engines, but the rationed supplies had the whole Gabriev family cutting back on regular maintenance.  
  
A lanky young man with longer than ordinary brown hair leaned in the doorway, wearing coveralls that sported the garage's name. As Gourry drove up, he flicked away the cigarette he held and strode over.  
  
"Hi, Val!" Gourry said, giving the older man a grin as he climbed out of the car. "I'm here for an oil change."  
  
"Figured as much." He swapped positions, getting in behind the wheel and slowly moved the car into the garage. "She been runnin' fine?"  
  
"Pretty good for the most part, although I've noticed a few things running a bit off."  
  
"Hmm." Val popped the hood of the car and propped it up, reaching into the breast pocket of his coveralls for another cigarette. "What kind--"  
  
They were cut off by a horn blaring. Gourry glanced over his shoulder to see a gleaming black Packard convertible by the pumps, and craned his neck a bit until he saw the black-haired teen behind the wheel.  
  
Val muttered something under his breath that Gourry didn't quite catch, but he doubted it was complimentary. He personally didn't have a problem with Xellos, but wasn't blind to how the other teen treated people he considered beneath him.  
  
The door to the garage's disorganized office slammed open, and Joe stuck his head out, scowling. "I'm on the phone, dammit! Can't ya see there's somebody out there?"  
  
"I was waitin' for you to take care of 'im," Val retorted.  
  
"What do I pay you for? Don't gimme lip, get out there."  
  
"I can wait," Gourry said, trying to sound helpful. Val only snorted in annoyance and kicked the garage wall with the side of his boot as he stalked out.  
  
Gourry decided to follow, lacking anything else to do, and as he drew closer, he saw the blonde-haired passenger in the Packard. "Hey, Filia!" he called out, waving at his classmate.  
  
Filia looked around, waving and flashing him a grin when she spotted him. "How's it going, Gourry?"  
  
"Pretty good. Hey, did you know Lina's dress is done?"  
  
Filia nodded. "So's mine, and don't think for a moment I'm going to tell you what she's wearing."  
  
"Shucks."  
  
"I know you too well."  
  
Gourry gave her a slight grin, and glanced over to Val, who was glaring at Xellos.  
  
"Look, you want your damned car refueled or not?" Val snapped.  
  
"You're not touching my car until I'm satisfied your hands are clean."  
  
"Then get the damned gas cap off your own lazy self."  
  
"Tsk. I wonder how Mr. Joe would like hearing the way you treat his prized customers," Xellos said, giving Val a dangerously cool smile as he leaned back on his car.  
  
Val just curled his lip back in a snarl. "My hands are clean, you can see that for yourself."  
  
"So they are," Xellos replied, not even bothering to look at them. "My apologies. One can't be too careful with a métis." Gourry shot a worried glance at Val as he picked up on Xellos' mocking tone. He wasn't sure what a métis was; French wasn't his strong point, but he knew the tone well enough. The older man looked ready to deck the black-haired teen.  
  
"Xellos!" Filia snapped, turning around in the seat to glare at him. "You apologize for that right now!"  
  
"Why should I?" Xellos said. "I didn't say a single thing untrue." He looked back to Val. "Everybody knows he _is_ a mongrel, just like any old, flea-bitten gas station dog."  
  
Gourry lunged for Val, holding him back easily. "Whoa, easy, he's not worth what'll happen after!"  
  
The car rocked as Filia slammed the door, stomping over to them. "Xellos, you jerk!" She looked back to Val. "I'm so sorry about--"  
  
"Save it," he snapped, shrugging himself free from Gourry's grip. "I don't need some silver spooned murderer defending me."  
  
Gourry frowned. Now things were going too far. Filia looked as though she'd been slapped. Xellos leaned against the trunk, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.  
  
"Filia," he said, "get back into the car. There's no reason for you to have to deal with that." Gourry wasn't sure if he meant the situation at hand, Val, or something else.  
  
She ignored him. "I'm not a murderer," she said.  
  
"Your family's got blood on its hands, and by default, so do you."  
  
"That fire was an accident!" Filia protested. "We had no way of knowing--"  
  
"Bullshit!"  
  
Filia paled at the harsh language.  
  
"Ma never would've been in that factory to start with if Dad were still alive, and he died because your damned grandfather sold the land out from under us!"  
  
"It was a depression!" Filia protested. "Times were hard for everyone!"  
  
"Oh, yeah." He looked her over, his expression sardonic as he took in her fashionable clothes and hairdo. "Real hard, I'll bet." Val leaned in closer. "You don't know the first thing about a hard life, little miss holier-than-thou, so don't even try to tell me about it."  
  
Xellos stepped between them as Val moved closer to Filia, his gaze aggressively hostile.  
  
Gourry usually got along with the older man reasonably well, but Filia never hurt so much as a fly. He gave him a warning look, clapping his hand on Val's shoulder. "Okay, man, that's enough, lay off'a her."  
  
Filia glared back at him, her gaze not faltering even as her blue eyes welled up with tears. Gourry heard a soft click, and Filia stepped away from the car. "The gas cap's off." She shot Xellos a look, then quietly got back into the front seat.  
  
Xellos glanced between the three of them, and shrugged. An amicable smile suddenly appeared on his face. "C'est la vie." He waved his hand to the car. "Top it off."  
  
"Ration coupon?"  
  
"Of course, how silly of me." Xellos produced the necessary papers, and Val filled up the Packard's tank. Gourry could see a muscle twitching in his jaw.   
  
An uncomfortable silence settled over them, and he considered heading back into the garage, but vetoed that idea. Better stick around to keep somebody from killing somebody, he decided, although the way things were going, it would be anybody's guess who'd kill whom.  
  


* * *

  
Filia was silent as they pulled away from the gas station, crossing her arms tightly over her stomach. She was sorry for what happened to Val's family, but it wasn't her fault. It wasn't even her grandfather's fault. Bad things just happened sometimes. She knew her grandfather had made some unpopular business decisions in the past, but it wasn't as though Saichuro had killed anyone. He didn't have to talk to her like that.  
  
"There, now."  
  
Xellos' voice made her look up, and she jumped slightly when his fingertips brushed her cheeks, wiping away tears. "Tell me, what would you like to do today?"  
  
She drew in a shaky breath, composing herself. "I'm not sure yet. I know my dress needs to be picked up, though." She hesitated. "You really shouldn't talk to people like that," Filia said softly.  
  
Xellos shrugged, shifting gears again as the traffic light changed. "Filia, you and I, we're several rungs up the ladder of life from people like that. Survival of the fittest and everything."  
  
"Still doesn't make it right."  
  
"Right, wrong, merde. You sound like a Seyruun." Xellos grabbed her arm and she yelped slightly at the tight grip. He pulled her across the seat, and put his arm around her. "Cheer up, Filia. We have better things to do, and better places to go. The world's our oyster and all that." He turned his head quickly and kissed her neck. "And we know what oysters are, non?"  
  
Filia blushed furiously. "Xellos, you cad." She lightly swatted his leg, and he chuckled.  
  
"How long are you going to keep me waiting?"  
  
"It's not proper! Good girls don't do those sort of things."  
  
"Aw, Filia, live a little."  
  
"I'm living just fine!"  
  
"Someday, I'll prove you wrong on that score." He draped his arm around her shoulder. "Filia Metallium. Hmm. How does that sound?"  
  
Filia blinked. "Why?" she whispered. "Are you asking?"  
  
"Depends. Are you going to say yes?"  
  
"Maybe. I would like to go to college, though."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind studying art, and maybe getting a job as a curator at the museum."  
  
"Filia, you don't need to work."  
  
"I know that. It's not for work, it's for fun. I've always enjoyed things like that." She snuggled against him, watching the road. "I do need to meet with Lina later."  
  
"The dresses, hmm?"  
  
Filia nodded.  
  
"Oh, all right." He sighed. "I suppose I could stand to let you leave my side for a little while."  
  
Filia looked up at him, giving him a faint smirk. "Yeah, you'll survive somehow."  
  
"More willpower than I thought I had, but yeah." He grinned and kissed her. "I'll drop you off at the dress shop, then. What time?"  
  
"Oh, not till later on this afternoon."  
  


* * *

  
Amelia felt like she was flying as her mare cantered between the trees, under the branches sagging with Spanish Moss. Zelgadis kept pace with her on the bay he rode, and she dared the occasional glance away from her path to look at him. She was pretty certain he liked her. Lina had said as much, and said she had caught him watching Amelia on a few occasions when Amelia hadn't been looking. She just wished she could get through to him that she didn't care about station, or about his deafness. Lina told her she had pretty much the whole pick of the school as far as boys went, but she didn't want the whole pick.  
  
They burst out of the trees into the late morning sunlight, turning down the dirt bridle path to the Inverse's private road, and Amelia's breath caught in her throat. None of the boys in school could have that effect on her, and she watched him out of the corner of her eye, enjoying the way the sunlight brought out the highlights in his ruddy brown hair, making it seem almost fiery.  
  
He glanced over at her and caught her watching him, and Amelia blushed, turning her gaze back to where it should be, between her mare's ears on the road ahead. When they turned onto the gravel that would later become a paved drive, they pulled the horses down to a walk to cool them off before reaching the house.  
  
His hand moved into her line of vision, catching her attention. "What movie are we seeing?" he asked when she looked over to him.  
  
Amelia looped her mare's reins around her forearm to free her hands before replying. "I want to see something called _The Enchanted Cottage_. It's being released today."  
  
"Some fairy tale?"  
  
"Maybe in a way, but not really. It's about a soldier coming back from the war."  
  
Zelgadis nodded. "Why are you inviting me?"  
  
"Because I want to. You're my friend."  
  
"Lina's your friend, Amelia. I'm your dad's servant."  
  
"That doesn't mean you can't be my friend too!"  
  
"Amelia, there's rules and conventions in society."  
  
"So what? Nobody can tell me who's my friend and who isn't but me."  
  
"You've got too much going for you. You don't need rumors and junk wrecking things."  
  
"Rumors? Mr. Zelgadis, what could possibly happen? We're friends, and there's nothing wrong with being friends."  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. "Forget it, Amelia." He looked away.  
  
She sighed, watching the road for a moment before trying to get his attention again. When he didn't look at her, she moved her horse close enough to his for her to lean over and tap his shoulder with her riding crop. "Would you rather not go to the movies?"  
  
He didn't answer right away, then sighed, shaking his head. "That wasn't what I mean at all. I'll go, I just... Let's not make a habit of this, okay?"  
  
Amelia frowned, more from trying to hold in her reaction to the sudden sting his words caused. "If that's how you feel, Mr. Zelgadis."  
  


* * *

  
_Great. Now I've made her mad._ Zelgadis sighed, looking at the frown on her face. _Good going._ But it was really for the best. He didn't want to get used to the idea of doing anything more than keeping watch over her whenever she went out riding. It would be too easy to get hurt, and the worst part was, he knew she'd never deliberately hurt him.  
  
Hell, if he had to guess, she'd beat herself up over it. In the six years since he'd first met her, Zelgadis had seen her go out of her way to avoid hurting anything or anyone.  
  
Better that this happened than to see her get hurt because of him. He stole another quick glance at her as they reached the Inverse' back lawn, and Zelgadis dismounted first, holding Amelia's reins while she hopped off her mare.  
  
"I'll go talk to Lina, and see if she wants to go."  
  
Zelgadis nodded, turning both horses around to lead them to the stables. After a moment, he paused, watching her climb the steps up to the kitchen door. Funny how he still often thought of her as being the way she was when they met. An awkward young girl, no longer a child, and not quite a teenager, and as graceful as a newborn colt.  
  
Because of that, it still amazed him every time he looked at her. She had grown into her looks, and was pure Southern grace.  
  


* * *

  
"I can't wait to see your dress!" Amelia exclaimed, and Lina looked at her younger friend through the mirror with a wry grin. "Just be sure not to let Gourry get any description out of you. I won't even tell him the exact color."  
  
"My lips are sealed! So, I was thinking, do you want us all to go into town, grab a movie, and then go get your dress? Like a group date?"  
  
"With whom?" Lina asked, looking back into the mirror as she finished pulling her fiery red hair back.  
  
"I was thinking you, me, and Mr. Gourry, and Miss Filia, and Mr. Xellos..."  
  
Lina smirked. Amelia wasn't done talking. "And who else?"  
  
"And Mr. Zelgadis."  
  
"Huh?" Lina turned around and looked at her. "He's going to the movies with us?"  
  
Amelia nodded. "Please?"  
  
Lina sighed at the expression Amelia gave her. _It's like talking to a puppy sometimes._ "Is he even aware you're dragging him along?"  
  
"I am not dragging anyone," Amelia retorted indignantly. "And yes, he knows."  
  
"How can a deaf guy like him watch a movie?"  
  
"Um, I thought I'd interpret."  
  
Lina considered that, and nodded. "That sounds like it'll work. Then by all means, sure." She grinned. "He's a nice enough guy. Gourry thinks he's all right."  
  
"He's more than all right." Amelia leaned back against Lina's dresser. "He's so cute, and so nice..."  
  
Lina frowned, growing a bit concerned. Not just for Amelia, but for Zel. "Amie," she said, using her own personal nickname for her friend, "are you even aware of what you're saying?"  
  
Amelia blinked. "Of course I am."  
  
Lina hesitated, wondering what else she could say. She didn't think Amelia would intentionally hurt anyone for the world, but neither did Lina think she had everything figured out. "For one, he's a bit older than you," she finally said.  
  
"He's only nineteen. And I'm almost seventeen!"  
  
"In another ten months."  
  
"That's still almost!"  
  
"You're also gonna be going to college, Amie."  
  
"So we'll write letters back and forth."  
  
"Amelia, you might want to wait until aft--"  
  
She stomped her foot in a rare display of temper, and Lina blinked. "Why do you keep treating me like a child who doesn't know what she wants? Or who she wants, for that matter?"  
  
Lina merely shook her head. She wasn't Amelia's mother, and she didn't really care to risk ruin to a perfectly good day with an argument. The room was quiet for a few minutes.  
  
"So you're graduating next Friday. What kind of plans do you and Mr. Gourry have?" Amelia asked, changing the topic.  
  
"He's not going to college, and neither am I."  
  
She blinked. "You're not going? Why?"  
  
Lina sighed, getting up from her vanity bench and started to pace. "Mother doesn't think it's appropriate," Lina replied, making a face as she said it. "She wants me to go to _finishing_ school. Between you and me and the walls, Amie, I'm _finished_ with the social niceties."  
  
"So what are you going to do?"  
  
Lina shrugged. "Gourry and I'll get by. We always have before, and we always have come up with good plans and carried 'em out together. I don't figure it'll be any different this time around." It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Amelia that her former nanny, now the housekeeper, was teaching her the Voodoo arts, but something held her back.  
  
"I hope the war's over before we graduate."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"What do you think you'll do if it's not?"  
  
Lina was quiet for a moment, her thoughts drifting in a direction she didn't really want them to go. "I'll wait and see."  
  
"What will you do if Mr. Gourry goes into the Army?"  
  
"I'll do what Luna did. I'll join the WAC. Or maybe the Red Cross and become a nurse."  
  
"But that's dangerous work!"  
  
"I'd rather be in dangerous work where Gourry is than here keeping the home fires burning." Lina couldn't keep the mocking tone from her voice. She was getting so sick of hearing that phrase. A woman could fight just as well as man, at least, that was her opinion.   
  
"Well, that's true I guess, but I don't see what college has to do with anything between me and how I feel."  
  
"Because you might meet a guy there who'd make you feel like Zel does. Besides, you want to be a lawyer, don't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You know what your dad's said about how rough law school is. Do you even think you'd have time to write him, let alone keep up a relationship?"  
  
"Well... when you put it that way..."  
  
"Trust me, Amelia. You've got plenty of time. If it's something that's supposed to work out, it will, no matter what. Isn't that what you always say, true love conquers all and everything?"  
  
Amelia grinned. "Thank you, Miss Lina."  
  


* * *

  
métis - half-breed, literally mongrel  
c'est la vie - that is life  
merde - shit   
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Note to Readers:** One thing to bear in mind. In most AUs, as with this one, the characters are _based on_ the originals, but placed within entirely new situations, and sometimes being fundamentally different. Such as in this case; the entire cast is human. Even Xellos is capable of emotion here, and only Lina knows anything regarding any kind of magic, and I seriously doubt there's anything like a Fireball or Dragon Slave in voodoo. The challenge of an AU is writing the characters out while staying within the social and situational confines of the times. For example, I cannot write Gourry as dumb as he appears in the anime (and he's not even that dumb in the novels) and actually have him in this story, since he would be far more likely to be thought to have brain damage (i.e., what ADD was thought to be in the 1940s), and institutionalized, or at the very least, a social outcast and one of those relatives you don't talk about at the reunions.  
And an aside to a reviewer of mine, gomen! But I already had a certain character scripted into a certain role in this story when I plotted it out, so please don't think it is a reflection on you. When going over what I'd written after I saw the review and the name chosen, I decided to clarify that point.  
~ Zanne  
  


**L'amour Existe Encore**  
CHAPTER THREE

  
  
Lina pulled up in front of the malt shop and shut off the engine. "Well, the movie starts at two-fifteen," she said. "I think Filia and I will go to the dress shop before that, if I find her. In the meantime..." Lina scrambled out of the car. "Milkshakes!"  
  
Amelia watched her older friend with amusement while she interpreted what was being said for Zelgadis. She climbed out, giving her a quirky grin. "Every time I see you, you're usually eating," she teased. "What, do you have a tapeworm or something?"  
  
Lina stuck her tongue out at her. "Or something. Do what you want, but there's a sundae in there calling my name, and Filia usually shows up here for lunch."  
  
"I thought it was a milkshake." Amelia tugged her riding jacket down, straightening it. Although most people didn't wear their jodhpurs and blazers out on the town, she did just about every weekend, when she would usually wind up going places with Lina after riding over in the mornings.  
  
"Those are to _drink_. Sundaes are to eat. I need the milkshake to wash it down." Lina winked and walked into the shop.  
  
Amelia looked over the car hood to Zelgadis. "Want to go in?" she asked, vetoing her voice for the moment in favor of just sign language.  
  
Zelgadis looked up at the sign, thinking, then shrugged. "Sure."  
  
"When Lina and Filia go to the dress shop, we can go over to the library. It's on the way to the movie house," Amelia suggested.  
  
Zelgadis held the door open for her. "That sounds fine."  
  
She turned around, backing into the shop so she could keep signing to him. "Is there anything you wa--" Amelia let out a startled yelp as she collided with someone, tripping backward. A strong hand seized her wrist as Zelgadis caught her, keeping her from falling down completely, and she blushed. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"  
  
"You should be," snapped a female's voice, and Amelia inwardly sighed.  
  
"Hello, Martina," she said, turning around to face the blonde.  
  
"Some people just have no class, no matter who their daddies are," Martina replied, smoothing back a blonde wisp of hair that had escaped her pompadour. "But of course, that's obvious by the company they keep."  
  
Amelia glared at the older teen, and was about to retort when Lina stepped in.  
  
"Martina, shut up, and leave Zel out of this."  
  
"Oh, dear me, did you think I was referring to him?" Martina smiled, stepping to the doorway, pausing halfway through it. "I meant you."  
  
Amelia blinked and grabbed her friend tightly around the waist, keeping Lina from lunging at Martina and doing any number of the various things she had heard her threaten to do sooner or later. Martina stepped out, the bell above the door jingling as it shut behind her.  
  
"Miss Lina! Miss Lina! Calm down!"  
  
"Oh, I'll calm down, all right," Lina growled, "once I rip every last strand of hair from her head."  
  
Amelia noticed that the shop's manager was watching, and with a rather unamused expression to boot. "Milkshakes, Miss Lina. Sundaes. Hot fudge. Strawberries," she recited, trying to distract her friend. Lina looked at her out of the corner of her eye, growing still, then shrugged out of Amelia's grip as she straightened her clothes.  
  
"Aw, you're right. She's not worth missing a milkshake over."  
  
Amelia nodded enthusiastically. "Chocolate, Miss Lina. So thick you need a spoon."  
  
Lina cast one last look to the doorway, then sat down on a white and red vinyl chair. Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. Not that she liked Martina any more than Lina did, but it would be rather embarrassing if her own father had to prosecute Miss Lina for assault and battery. Amelia sat down beside her, and Zelgadis took a chair across from Lina.  
  
A soda jerker came over, and while Lina was racking up her order, Zelgadis tapped Amelia on the arm.  
  
"What was that all about?" he asked.  
  
Amelia kept her voice mute while she replied, lest the mention send Lina into another tailspin. "Miss Martina and Miss Lina do not get along in the slightest," she replied. "And you know Miss Lina has a bit of an unladylike temper. Miss Martina likes to provoke her."  
  
"And you, miss, what would you like?"  
  
Amelia looked up at the soda jerker. "Oh. Um..." She thought for a moment, and then beamed a bright smile. "A root beer float."  
  
"At this hour of the morning?" Lina teased. "Oh, you shameless lush, you."  
  
Amelia made a face at her, then turned to Zelgadis. "What do you want?" she asked him.  
  
He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "Coffee?"  
  
"Coffee?" Amelia blinked. "Well, they have it, certainly, but don't you want any ice cream, or milkshakes, or any of that?"  
  
"So I like coffee."  
  
Amelia shrugged and grinned at him. "So coffee it is." She relayed his order to the soda jerker, who raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing as he went to fill the orders.  
  
"So, what do you two have planned while I'm at the dress shop?" Lina asked.  
  
Zelgadis looked away from Amelia's hands to Lina and shrugged. "Amelia suggested the library."  
  
Lina listened to Amelia translate, then blinked. "It's a Saturday! And it's a gorgeous day. Why are you wanting to waste it in a library?"  
  
"I like reading!" Amelia protested.  
  
"Bookworm." Lina shook her head and looked to Zelgadis. "And you're letting her drag you there?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't mind," he replied. "Reading's about all I do on my off hours."  
  
Lina shot Amelia a look as she finished translating. "Is that _really_ what he said, Amie?"  
  
"What? Miss Lina? Do you think I'd _lie_?" Amelia asked indignantly. "Lying is unjust! There is nothing more pure and sacred in all creation than truth and justice! Lying only darkens the true light of our hearts, and it tries to stand in the way of all that is right, honorable, and good! Lies are a weapon used by the evil Axis and is quite thoroughly un-American! Why, I declare th--"  
  
Amelia blinked as Lina's hand was suddenly clamped down on her mouth. She looked at her friend, who had her eyes squeezed shut tightly.  
  
"Okay, okay, I get the point, Amelia. Now shut up. _Please_."  
  
"Miss Lina..." Amelia pushed her hand from her mouth. "Don't you believe in the cause of justice?"  
  
"I believe, I believe!" Lina said quickly. "I'll believe in anything you want me to! Just shut up!"  
  
Amelia huffed. "Well, okay, but that's not very nice of you, Miss Lina."  
  
"Err, your orders?"  
  
Amelia looked up to see the soda jerker balancing a huge tray.  
  
"Yes! Ice cream! Sundaes! Chocolate and lots of it!" Lina stared intently at the tray while the soda jerker set down Zelgadis' cup of coffee.  
  
"Miss Lina, you'll remember to wait until he sets the food in front of you, won't you?" Amelia cautioned.  
  
Lina blinked, and the soda jerker looked decidedly nervous. 'What?" Lina said. "Of course I will, don't be ridiculous."  
  
"Well, there was that day in Baton Rouge..."  
  
"That _one_ time!" Lina huffed. "Besides, I hadn't eaten all day."  
  
"So you've forgotten the trip to Galveston?"  
  
Amelia glanced over to see Xellos and Filia standing behind Zelgadis. Xellos was grinning at Lina.  
  
Lina's cheeks took on a faint pink tint, but she held her composure. "I deny everything."  
  
"What are you talking about, Mr. Xellos?" Amelia asked, and saw Lina shoot him a threatening look.  
  
Xellos merely grinned. "C'est un secret, Mademoiselle Amelia."  
  
"Filia?" Amelia looked to the other woman.  
  
"My lips are sealed. She threatened my hair." Filia patted her long, blonde tresses, coiled up in a loose topknot.  
  
"Why don't you join us?" Lina asked.  
  
Amelia looked at the small table, barely big enough to handle occupants for the four chairs that surrounded it. Xellos apparently had the same thought, because he guided Filia over to a neighboring table.  
  
"I believe we'll sit over here," Xellos said, and grinned. "Close enough to talk, far enough away to disavow any knowledge of you whatsoever if it should come to that."  
  
Filia lightly backhanded his shoulder, giving him a smirk. "Besides, we'll save that chair for Mr. Gourry."  
  
"If the jellyfish shows up," Lina replied.  
  
Amelia chuckled and glanced to Zelgadis, her smile fading rapidly when she saw his expression. His jaw was set, and his eyes were hostile.  
  
"Mr. Zelgadis, what is it?" she asked silently, relying on her fingers.  
  
"Just the company." His gestures were clipped and curt, and Amelia drew back, feeling as though he had just slapped her.  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. "Not you. Him." He shot a look at Xellos.  
  
"You've met?"  
  
"Long time ago."  
  
"Well, look who's joined our happy little group," Xellos said, looking at Zelgadis as he pulled back a chair for Filia. "How nice of you to take on a charity case."  
  
Amelia abruptly stopped using sign language and glared at Xellos. "He is not! He's my friend."  
  
"Xel, knock it off," Lina told him.  
  
"Oh, my mistake," Xellos said, smiling. "I was just rather surprised to see the daughter of our fair city's lead attorney consorting with a mere stable hand." Filia tugged on his sleeve, giving him a pleading look, and he patted her hand. "But no matter." He gave them all a bright smile, then snapped his fingers to get the soda jerker's attention as he sat down.  
  
Zelgadis' gaze constantly snapped back and forth between them, trying to follow the conversation without Amelia interpreting. And she had no intention whatsoever of relaying what Xellos had said.  
  
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Zelgadis told Amelia.  
  
"Don't say that, please!" she begged. "Ignore Mr. Xellos. He can be a bit of jerk sometimes."  
  
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, his expression slightly sardonic, but nodded.  
  
"Are you eating all that by yourself?" Filia asked, eyeing the miniature banquet before Lina incredulously.  
  
"Yup."  
  
Filia shook her head, her expression dismayed. "How you can do that and not gain a pound is beyond me."  
  
"Oui, some of us must sacrifice such indulgences in the quest for beauty," Xellos said, and Filia shot him a look. He grinned, and took her hand, kissing the palm. "Of course, some of us have achieved that quest beyond anyone's wildest dreams."  
  
Filia blushed at the compliment, giving him a warm grin.  
  
"Ugh. Sap alert. You two have more sugar than this entire order." Lina swept her hand over the various desserts.  
  
"In more ways than one," Xellos replied, giving her a cocky grin as he rubbed his fingers and thumb together in a gesture indicating money.  
  
"Money's sugar?" Amelia asked.  
  
"It's a rather old slang term," Xellos replied. "From our parents' generation, I would think, or perhaps grandparents."  
  
"Oh, sure, flaunt your family wealth," Lina shot back.  
  
Xellos grinned, then placed an order for both himself and Filia as the soda jerker arrived. Amelia glanced over at Zelgadis, who wasn't watching what she was saying, but rather, sipping his coffee and staring at the tabletop. As if he had felt her eyes on him, he glanced up, and his expression softened into a faint smile that made her heart lift. She grinned back shyly and sipped her float when Xellos resumed the conversation.  
  
"It's not as though you're lacking in that arena either," he reminded Lina. "How many vineyards is it your family owns?"  
  
Amelia considered interpreting again, just to avoid having Zelgadis feel left out. When she glanced out of the corner of her eye at him, he was staring at the tabletop, a terse expression on his face. Amelia bit her bottom lip in a slight wince, and decided against it for the moment.  
  
"Two in California on my mother's side, three in France from my Father's." Lina's expression was as bored as her tone by the new topic.  
  
"Ah, yes. My parents served up a 1906 Burgundy last night with dinner. From one of your French estates, I believe. Very good year."  
  
"Couldn't have been that great," Lina said, and then shot him a cheeky grin. "I wasn't born yet."  
  
Xellos smirked. "That's debatable. But my mother was wondering, how have the French vineyards fared?"  
  
Lina shrugged. "We don't know yet. Daddy's been more concerned with getting word on how our relatives over there are doing."  
  
"Have you heard anything yet?" Amelia asked.  
  
"Some, yeah. A few we've heard from directly, but most of our news comes from Luna. She's been able to do the most through her army contacts." She looked to Xellos. "What about your family?"  
  
"We've gotten back in touch with the majority in the last few months," Xellos replied.  
  
"That's good news," Filia said.   
  
"Eh. Comme ci comme ça." He waggled his hand back and forth. "For the most part, I'd agree. I'd hoped, though, that several of my more annoying cousins would have dropped off the face of the earth. I should have known I wouldn't be that lucky."  
  
Amelia blinked, feeling more than a little appalled by his casual disregard for their safety. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Mr. Xellos," she chided him.  
  
"Maybe not, but it's honest, at any rate. Besides, if you had the displeasure of meeting them, you'd probably agree with me."  
  
Lina licked her spoon. "These are your mother's brother's kids?"  
  
"No, all our relatives over there, as far as I know, are more distant. Second cousins twice removed, and third cousins. That sort of thing."  
  
"You have an uncle, Mr. Xellos?"  
  
"Apparently," he said dryly, quirking a grin. "Not that I remember ever meeting him, mind you. Or my aunt, for that matter."  
  
"Oh." Amelia studied him curiously. "Why not?"  
  
"Well, Uncle Dynast lives, hmm, last I heard, up north somewhere, New England or thereabouts. He and Mother have been in something of a feud for as long as I can recall. I also have an aunt, but she's off in an institution somewhere, mad as a hatter." Xellos paused, thinking for a moment, then shook his head. "Damned if I can recall her name, though. Mother, on the rare times she does speak of her, always calls her by a nickname."  
  
"And I've been meaning to ask you about that," Filia said. "Why _does_ your mother call her sister 'Dolphin'?"  
  
Xellos frowned as he tapped a finger slowly on the table. "Hmm." He shook his head slowly, then Amelia saw his eyes light up, and he snapped his fingers. "Now I remember. When they were young, she got sick. I think it may have been around the same time their little brother died of diphtheria, possibly the same thing. At any rate, it messed up her breathing, and Mother said she had the queerest laugh for a couple of years after that. Somebody said she sounded like a dolphin, and the name stuck."  
  
"Isn't that kind of mean, Mr. Xellos?"  
  
He shrugged. "I wouldn't know if she even noticed. Mother said she'd always been a few bubbles off plumb. At any rate, it was a good twenty years or something before I was born, so I can say with reasonable certainty that it's not _my_ fault."  
  
Filia chuckled, and patted his hand. "I hope this war's over soon," she said, changing topics.  
  
"From your lips to God's ear," Lina agreed.  
  
"Daddy's pretty optimistic, from the news reports," Amelia said, starting to interpret once more. The conversation had moved away from Xellos and his family, after all. "It might be over soon. The Allied forces are really showing those Nazis what we're made of."  
  
"Oui," Xellos said, then smirked. "Blood, bone, and various assorted innards."  
  
Lina groaned. "I'm trying to eat here."  
  
"Je suis désolé," Xellos replied, his tone mockingly penitent. "I wasn't aware anything could make a dent in your appetite."  
  
He didn't move quick enough evade the flying dollop of ice cream Lina launched at him with the skill of an expert marksman, and fell back in his chair with a startled cry. Amelia tried not to laugh, she honestly did, but the sight of him with a bit of vanilla dripping from his black bangs was too much. Xellos glared at Lina, then shot a smirk to Amelia as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the ice cream away.  
  
"So my misfortune amuses you, mademoiselle?" Xellos asked Amelia, and then looked to Filia, giving her a suggestive grin. "But perhaps you would care to help me clean this off, oui?"  
  
Filia's face grew bright red, and she grabbed a napkin from Lina's table and balled it up, throwing it at him. "There's my help!" Xellos laughed as he picked up the napkin. "Vous canaille," she muttered under her breath as she sat back, shaking her head.  
  
The soda jerker's return with their order interrupted the conversation, and the group fell silent briefly while he placed the large banana split between the two, and set down a couple of milkshakes.  
  
"Do you want to go by the dress shop soon?" Lina asked. "Amelia's asked me along to see a movie this afternoon."  
  
"That sounds good to me," Filia agreed, looking grateful for the change in topic. "What movie is it?"  
  
"The new one that's coming out today," Amelia said. "It's called _The Enchanted Cottage_. Why don't you and Mr. Xellos come with us?"  
  
"We can do that," Filia said, and looked to her boyfriend. "Right?"  
  
"Whatever your heart desires, mon chéri."  
  
"Well, it looks like I'll have to track down the ol' jellyfish," Lina said.  
  
"Do! We can have a triple date!" Filia replied.  
  
Amelia blushed faintly, still interpreting the conversation for Zelgadis while sipping on her float from time to time, lips resting around the straw. He tapped her arm, and she let go of her straw, glancing to him.  
  
"My curiosity's finally gotten the better of me," Zelgadis said. "Why does she call Gourry 'jellyfish'?"  
  
Amelia paused, thinking. "I'm not sure either. She always has as long as I've known him." Amelia flagged down Lina's attention. "Why do you call Gourry 'jellyfish'?"  
  
Lina chuckled. "Oh, geez. You know, it's been so long, I'm not even sure I remember the full story. It was in third grade, I think, shortly after he moved into our parish. It had to do with Gourry trying to trick me that some jelly his mother made was actually made with fish eyes. Fish jelly. That eventually evolved into 'jellyfish'."  
  
"Makes sense," Amelia said, "in a disgusting, disturbing sort of way."  
  
Zelgadis smirked. "Now I'm wondering if you actually ate any of that jelly."  
  
"And you'll keep wondering," Lina retorted.  
  
"I'll sell the answer for a modest fee," Xellos said, ignoring Lina's glare.  
  
Zelgadis snapped his first two fingers against his thumb in a curt, sharp motion, not even looking to Xellos. Amelia blushed, and tried to soften the blunt rejection of the offer. "No, thank you, Mr. Xellos."  
  
"If you even try it, Xellos, I'm going to tell everyone about that incident in fourth grade," Lina threatened.  
  
"What incident?" Filia asked, blinking.  
  
Xellos blushed, scratching the back of his head. "Nothing of any importance. So, lovely weather today, non?"  
  
Lina grinned at him wickedly.  
  
"Uh-oh." Amelia glanced to the door as she heard Gourry's voice. "I know _that_ look. What sort of impending disaster are we looking at?"  
  
"The potential destruction of Xellos' calm and cool reputation," Lina replied, still grinning at the black-haired teen.  
  
"Er, Lina, really now. There's no need for that. I was merely joshing you, after all," Xellos stammered.  
  
"I'm really curious about this 'incident'," Filia said, propping her chin on her fist.  
  
"I'll get it out of her," Gourry offered, "then you can tell me what she's wearing to the prom."  
  
"And that's a secret I'm taking to my grave, merci beaucoup," Lina retorted.  
  
"Darn, foiled again." Gourry sat down next to her and eyed the empty dishes. "Is there even any ice cream left in the place for me?"  
  
"I didn't eat _that_ much!" Lina protested.  
  
Gourry grinned and kissed her on the forehead, getting back to his feet. "I'll go to the counter and order. I don't want to give the poor boy a heart attack at the idea of coming back to take more orders from this table." He moved away quickly, but not before Lina swatted him on the arm.  
  
"Oh, Gourry! Be ready to meet us at the movie house at two!" Lina called after him.  
  
"Why? What are we doing?"  
  
Lina stared at him. "We're going to steal Xellos' convertible and go for a joyride and play mailbox baseball."  
  
"But isn't that illegal?"  
  
Lina slapped her palm over her face.  
  
"We're going to see a movie, Mr. Gourry," Amelia explained.  
  
"Oh, so we're not stealing Xellos' car?"  
  
"Over your dead bodies," Xellos said.  
  
"No, jellyfish. We're not stealing anything. Amelia wants to see a movie, and we thought we'd all go."  
  
"That sounds like a good idea. I'm all for it! Oh, Zel! You're here too?" Gourry grinned, and waved at him. "Great to have you here." He turned back to the counter, placing his order after Zelgadis gave him a slight wave in return.  
  
Amelia felt a tug on her riding jacket sleeve, and looked to Zelgadis.  
  
"Is he going with us?" From the slightly aggressive look in his eyes, Amelia guessed whom he meant.  
  
"Well, they all are," Amelia said, trying to answer indirectly. "Why? What's wrong?"  
  
For a moment, she thought that perhaps he would answer her, but in the end, he just shook his head. "It's nothing, Amelia. Just an old..." Zelgadis trailed off for a moment, thinking. "An old fight. Nothing more."  
  
"Are you sure? We can do something else if you'd rather..."  
  
"No." He patted Amelia's hand, giving her a smile. "That's okay. I'd still like to go."  
  
"If you're sure?"  
  
"I'm sure, Amelia." He looked at his cup, then gestured to her glass. "Are you about done?"  
  
Amelia moved her straw around, finding just half-melted ice cream froth. "Yep." She smiled. "Do you want to go to the library?" Zelgadis nodded, standing up, and Amelia turned her attention to Lina. "We'll meet you at the movie house. We're going to the library."  
  
"Leaving so soon?" Gourry asked as he returned to the table. "I just got here!"  
  
"We'll see you in a little while," Amelia said. "We're going to the library while Miss Lina and Miss Filia get their dresses."  
  
"And we'll leave you two boys to entertain yourselves," Lina added.  
  
"We should probably leave now, if we're to be done by two," Filia said, looking at the clock.   
  
"Good point." Lina devoured one last bite of ice cream as she stood. "Remember, jellyfish, movie house, two o'clock." Lina joined Amelia at the counter where they paid for their treats.  
  
Filia kissed Xellos on the cheek. "I'll see you in a little while. Do try to behave."  
  
"This is me you're talking to."  
  
"Which is precisely why I said that," Filia retorted, giving him a quick grin. In reply, he caught her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist.  
  
Amelia chuckled as she listened to their banter, and paid more attention to where she was going as she stepped the malt shop. She _really_ had to quit doing things like that. Her chronic klutziness might have been somewhat endearing as a child, but it was hardly desirable in a woman and future lawyer.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
C'est un secret - That is a secret  
Mademoiselle - Miss  
Oui - Yes  
Comme ci comme ça - so so  
Je suis désolé - I'm sorry  
Vous canaille - you cad (literally: you dirty)  
Mon chéri - my darling  
Non - no  
Merci beaucoup - thank you very much   
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Note to Readers:** Sorry for the long delays on my 'fics. Sept. wasn't a good month with me. Don't expect any updates for a couple more weeks, as I'll be out of state. But I'm taking a laptop to write in the car and while I'm there, so if I don't have _something_ to show for it, you can beat me with leafy green veggies. ^_^  
~ Zanne  
  


**L'amour Existe Encore**  
CHAPTER FOUR

  
  
"Mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
"Ask away."  
  
"Huh?" Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "You want me to leave?"  
  
"What?" Amelia blinked. "No! Of course not! Why did--" It hit her then what she had signed, and she slapped her hand over her eyes in dismay and laughed. It wasn't the first time the sign she chose matched her words exactly, but completely twisted the meaning of what was actually said.  
  
Zelgadis tapped her shoulder, smirking in amusement. "Wrong concept?" he asked.  
  
Amelia nodded. "I said 'ask away'," she replied, her fingers moving quickly as she spelled out the word. "That means the same thing as 'go ahead'. Sorry, I wasn't thinking when I signed 'away'."  
  
"You say the strangest thing when you're distracted."  
  
"Sorry!" Amelia replied, blushing a bit but laughing at the amusement plainly visible on his face. "It's not my fault the translations can get a bit odd!" She moved her hands back and forth quickly, striking her fingers together a few times in a lazy motion that was almost as if she were dusting her hands. "Anyway," she said with that sign, "go on. What was your question?"  
  
The amusement evaporated from Zelgadis' face, and she was instantly regretful for reminding him of whatever it had been.  
  
"Your friend, Filia, she's always come across as a fairly decent sort," Zelgadis said, "which is why it's completely beyond me, trying to figure out what she sees in him."  
  
Amelia looked away quickly before any of her thoughts surfaced to her expression. Why was he asking about Filia? Amelia knew she was very pretty, and far more graceful and self-assured than herself. Under the pretense of watching where they were walking, Amelia didn't look at him as she raised her hand to her forehead, tapping it with her three middle fingers and drawing them back, curling them into a fist while her thumb and pinky remained straight. "Why?"  
  
Of course, that now meant she had to look at him for his answer.  
  
Zelgadis didn't reply immediately, and her cheeks grew a little warm as he continued to study her. "I guess I'm wondering if it's an act on her part."  
  
"An act? Oh, no, not at all," Amelia said hastily. "Miss Filia's very nice. I guess it's...well, it's a social thing. The Ul Copts and Metalliums are two of the oldest, and most powerful families in New Orleans, in terms of monetary and political clout. I think they're together mostly because it's expected of them. But they do care for each other."  
  
Zelgadis' expression was a bit derisive, but he nodded. "Fair enough." He climbed the library steps a little faster than she, and held the door open.  
  
Amelia nodded her thanks and stepped inside, frowning a bit. Was that all that was to his apparent interest? He tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"I'm going over to the science section," he said, and she barely had time to acknowledge that before he walked off.  
  
With a sigh, Amelia watched him, absorbing every detail and committing them to memory. Someday, she'd get him to notice her. At least, she hoped she would. For the time being though, she would completely avoid the nonfiction half of the library.  
  


* * *

  
Lina studied her reflection, wondering if the scarf was a bit too much. "Hey, Filia, what do you think of this?" she asked.  
  
There was no immediate answer, and Lina turned around, taking care not to step on her dress. Her friend was sitting on the edge of a chair, staring down at a tiny jeweled purse which matched her prom dress. "Filia?"  
  
The blonde looked up, her blue eyes wide and startled. "Oh! I'm sorry. I...what were you saying?"  
  
"I wanted to know if this scarf was overdoing it," Lina asked, holding up the end of the very long and narrow sheer silk material which was partially wound around her neck.  
  
Filia studied her critically, then shook her head. "Not too much, but it's just not working with the dress. A lace shawl might be better. Get a brooch and clasp it in the middle, and keep it just barely off your shoulders."  
  
"Lace?" Lina made a face. "That's just so proper."  
  
"Then a stole, and not something quite so sheer, but that scarf's not quite right with that dress."  
  
"Oh, all right." Lina pulled it off. "What's on your mind?"  
  
"Hmm? Just..." Filia shrugged, looking down. "Just something that happened this morning."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I...we went to the gas station to get more gas, and...Val was there."  
  
"That jerk?" Lina groaned. "Now what'd he want?"  
  
"He's not a jerk!" Filia protested, walking over to Lina and turning around. "What's happened isn't his fault."  
  
"Doesn't mean he's right to talk to you the way he does," Lina replied, starting to undo the closures on Filia's dress. She didn't answer. "Filia?"  
  
"If my family's guilty of something, does that mean I am too?" she whispered.  
  
Lina raised an eyebrow and grabbed her taller friend by her shoulders, forcing her to turn around. "Where is this coming from?"  
  
"He said my family has blood on our hands, and so do I, by association."  
  
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Lina snapped. "Even if what he said is true, you're not guilty over what somebody else did." She turned around. "Go on and get this thing off me. I've a mind to march right down to that service station and give him a piece of my mind and then some!"  
  
"No, Lina, please!" Filia protested even as she started helping Lina out of her dress. "Life hasn't been good to him. You don't need to yell at him, he really doesn't deserve it."  
  
"Well, you don't deserve getting branded as a killer," Lina retorted.  
  
"People say things they don't always mean when they're hurting," Filia reminded her.  
  
"I'll never understand how you can stand up for him."  
  
"Because nobody else will."  
  
Lina glanced up as she buttoned up her blouse. "Maybe because he doesn't want anybody's help."  
  
Filia just shrugged. "He's not a bad man, not really." She started to turn around for Lina to finish undoing the row of buttons down her back, and paused. "You won't tell Xellos about this conversation?"  
  
"Why? Doesn't he know?"  
  
"Well, yes, but he really doesn't like it when I speak of Val."  
  
Lina snorted in annoyance and resumed working the small buttons out of the holes. "Much as I like Xellos, he's got his own unique set of faults. Don't worry about it."  
  
"You're hardly Little Miss Perfect yourself," Filia shot back, although her tone was amused.  
  
"At least I know there's more to life than money."  
  
"Oh, he's aware of that, it's just that it's quite a useful thing to have."  
  
Lina chuckled. "A direct quote?"  
  
"Oui," Filia replied, and Lina grinned slightly, glad to see her back in good humor.  
  
Lina folded and boxed their gowns while Filia dressed. "Should I ring for one of the help to pick these up, or did you?"  
  
"I already did. We can leave the dresses here."  
  
"Good, because I don't trust Gourry not to try to sneak peeks into the box at the theater."  
  


* * *

  
Zelgadis couldn't figure out what had brought about the subtle, but odd, change in mood he noticed in Amelia when he brought up Filia. The closest thing to an answer he could find was in her own reply. _It's a social thing. They're together mostly because it's expected of them._  
  
As if he didn't need another reason to remember that Amelia was out of his league. Hearing those words directly from her drove that point home. Maybe she might say she didn't believe in social status, but she was just a kid.  
  
All this was, was puppy love. A schoolgirl crush. He would be a fool if he let his heart get mixed up in the deal.  
  
But maybe someday, that would change. There was a dismal lack of any sort of informative books dealing with hearing, or the loss thereof in the library, but part of that was because very little was known. The best medical books were reference only, and couldn't be removed, so he was making the most of the opportunity to pore over them, reading, learning, memorizing. He knew would need every advantage available if he wanted to make it through medical school, and learning all he could in advance couldn't hurt.  
  
There had to be a cure for deafness, somehow. Zelgadis surmised that no one ever found one because no one cared enough to research it. But there _had_ to be a cure, and he _would_ find it.  
  
Then, perhaps, he could believe that Amelia might feel something more than just a girl's crush.  
  
Motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he looked up to see Amelia emerge from between the stacks, holding a book behind crossed arms.  
  
"Hi."  
  
He nodded. "Is it time to leave?"  
  
Amelia shrugged. "Almost, but not quite." She looked awkward, unsure of herself. "Am I bothering you?"  
  
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "No, I was just reading."  
  
She nodded, then looked around, chewing her bottom lip for a moment. "Mind if I join you?"  
  
"What? Here?" Zelgadis looked around. He was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. It was secluded and quiet, free from visual noise and distractions. "You don't want to sit on the floor." He started to rise. "We'll go to a table."  
  
Amelia touched his shoulder as she lowered herself to the floor, sitting beside him. "I don't mind." He looked to her and her hand lingered for a few more moments as he settled back into place.  
  
"If you're sure."  
  
"I'm sure." She looked at the book. "What're you reading?"  
  
He felt vaguely embarrassed to be caught red-handed. Would she laugh at him, as others were inclined to do? Preposterous, a deaf man getting through medical school. He didn't answer, but lifted it up so she could read the spine.  
  
"Oh." Amelia smiled softly. "You're interested in medicine?"  
  
Zelgadis hesitated. "I want to be a doctor," he admitted, and warily watched her out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Her face lit up like the city at night. "Oh, really? That's wonderful! I'm sure you'll be a wonderful doctor. What do you want to specialize in?"  
  
For a few moments, he wondered if she were mocking him, perhaps. But her enthusiasm was so free and unbridled, he admonished himself for being suspicious of her. "I want to find a cure."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For deafness."  
  
She grinned happily. "I hope you find it. There's so much wonderful music out there I'd love to be able to introduce you to. And movies! Although I can interpret those."  
  
"You don't have to do that."  
  
"I don't mind." She smiled brightly. "This is great. You want to be a doctor, and I'm going to be a lawyer. Maybe we'll go to college together!"  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. "No, I'm going to attend Gallaudet."  
  
"Oh." She seemed dejected for a heartbeat, then smiled. "That's okay. Do you know when you're going?"  
  
Zelgadis shrugged. "One of these days." He didn't want to tell her that money was an issue. "What about you? What are you reading?" he asked, changing the topic.  
  
"I found a _Nancy Drew_ novel I haven't read yet." Amelia held it up, showing him _The Clue Of The Broken Locket_.  
  
"You like mysteries?"  
  
"They're fun." She gave him a slightly sheepish grin. "I have to admit to wishing stuff like this would happen around here. I'd love to do the things Nancy does. I guess that's one reason I want to be a lawyer, since part of law is also being a detective, in a manner of speaking. Well, for the good and just lawyers, anyway."  
  
"Life's rarely, if ever, the way it's portrayed in fiction," Zelgadis reminded her. "There's a reason why it's called fiction."  
  
"Oh, I know that." Amelia smiled. "But I can still dream."  
  
"What would you do if you encountered a mystery?"  
  
"Why, I'd solve it, of course."  
  
"You realize that if there's a crime, the criminal might not want that crime solved?" he pointed out. "It could get dangerous."  
  
"A true champion of justice does not shirk in the face of danger. In the end, good will always triumph over evil."  
  
Zelgadis frowned. "Amelia, that's only in the books and movies. That's not how real life goes."  
  
"Only because not enough people believe in it," Amelia argued.  
  
"I just don't want to see you get hurt."  
  
Her smile grew softer. "You care about me?"  
  
_Oh, shit. How did we get onto this path?_ Zelgadis shifted position slightly, growing uncomfortable. "Well, we're friends, aren't we? What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't care?"  
  
"That's true. You know I care about you too, right?"  
  
He drew in a deep breath. They were skirting near the danger zone. "Yeah. So, what kind of law do you want to specialize in?" he asked.  
  
"Criminal justice, of course." She grinned. "I want to be a prosecuting attorney, just like my father. I want to see the criminals get exactly what they deserve, and to see justice carried out."  
  
"Do you think everyone you prosecute will be guilty?"  
  
Amelia didn't answer immediately. "If they're not guilty, I simply won't prosecute them."  
  
"That's not how it works. If they're brought to trial, your job will be to prosecute them to the best of your ability, otherwise, it's a mistrial. You should know that."  
  
"I do, but if they're innocent, then justice shall prevail."  
  
Zelgadis snorted in disgust, and shook his head. "That's great in theory, but the reality's a bit different."  
  
She glared at him. "And how would you know?"  
  
"How do you think I met your father?"  
  
Amelia blinked, not having a ready answer.  
  
"I met him because he was prosecuting me for petty theft."  
  
A wounded expression came over her face, and he wanted to cringe. "You stole?"  
  
"No, I didn't. And you know what? Your father believed me. But he couldn't just back down from his duty."  
  
"But justice was served, wasn't it?"  
  
"Not really. I was still found guilty as sin. I owe your dad a lot. He plea bargained when he didn't have to, and got me community service which he was able to get the judge to agree to let me serve out by working for him. That's how I got the job."  
  
"But...how did you get found guilty if you're innocent?"  
  
"Because the world doesn't always work the way it ought to, Amelia. The ones who actually did the stealing and left me to take the fall are rich. Their families are powerful, and in this world, it's all about money and power. Not justice."  
  
Amelia sighed, a mournful expression on her face as she rested her chin on her knees. Then she blinked, her eyes going wide, then narrowing. "Does this have anything to do with why you don't like Mr. Xellos?"  
  
Zelgadis hesitated. "It was a long time ago, Amelia."  
  
"Does it?"  
  
"Amelia..."  
  
"Tell me!"  
  
He thunked his head back against the wall. "Yes, it does." Amelia's expression grew dangerous and she started to get to her feet. Quickly, he grabbed her wrist. "Whoa, where you going?"  
  
"I'm going to find him and I'm going--"  
  
"You're not going to do anything!" He gently but firmly pulled her back down. "Let it go. It was a long time ago, and there's nothing you can do about it."  
  
"But it's not fair!"  
  
"Life's not fair, Amelia. That's what I'm trying to tell you." She looked so forlorn at that realization he hugged her before he could stop himself.  
  
"That won't stop me," she said after a moment. "Life's not fair only because not enough people try to make it fair."  
  
"Please don't cause trouble on my behalf," Zelgadis said.  
  
"I won't. But I'm still going to be the most just attorney in the country."  
  
He couldn't help but quirk a faint smile at the determined set to her jaw. "All right, I'll grant you that."  
  
Amelia smiled. "Hey, you know what's really nice?"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Being able to talk without the librarians telling us to shush." She grinned.  
  
Zelgadis stared at her for a moment, then chuckled. "Always looking for the good things, huh?"  
  
"Of course. If you don't look for the good sometimes, then all you see is the bad, and life really isn't as bad as it can seem."  
  
He studied her for a moment. "Don't ever lose that optimism. Once it's gone, you'll never get it back."  
  
Her expression took on a slightly sadder cast. "Did you lose yours, Mr. Zelgadis?"  
  
"I'm not sure," he replied after a moment, then shifted position, getting to his feet and holding his hand to help her up. "It's about time for the picture to start, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, it is." She took his hand, standing. "But it's okay. I'll be optimistic enough for the both of us."  
  
Zelgadis smirked slightly. "All right. Do you need to check the book out?"  
  
"I already did." They walked toward the door, and he held it open for her. As she reached the steps, she turned around to face him. "May I ask a question?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Next year, will you go to the prom with me?"  
  
Zelgadis froze, blinking at her. "Uh..." _Shit. What am I going to say?_ "Amelia, a year's a long way off. A lot can happen. It wouldn't be fair for me to give an answer to that now."  
  
She looked disappointed for a heartbeat, then smiled. "But it's not a no," she replied, and started down the steps.  
  
Zelgadis looked skyward, drawing in a deep breath. _If there's anybody up there, you owe me a favor. Get her interested in somebody else. I'm not what she needs._ He trotted down the steps after her.  
  


* * *

  
"Filia, there you are."  
  
She turned around, smiling at Xellos. "Well, of course. We'd agreed to meet here."  
  
He looked up at the movie house entrance, then back to her. "I know. I was hoping you hadn't gone inside yet."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't really care to see this movie. Let's go do something else."  
  
"Is everything all right?"  
  
"Yes, I just don't feel like wasting an hour or two watching a movie about two ugly people falling in love." He made a face.  
  
"Where did you hear that?"  
  
"I asked some people who saw the last show when you were at the dress shop."  
  
"Well, you know the saying, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'."  
  
"And the eye of this particular beholder would much rather be looking at you instead of an ugly couple." He grinned, slipping an arm around her waist.  
  
"Xellos!" Filia looked around, wondering if anyone was watching them and the public display of affection.  
  
"I just have my arm around you, it's not like I'm ravishing you," Xellos said his tone slightly exasperated, then his eyes traveled down. "But it's not sounding like a half-bad idea."  
  
"Xellos!" she shouted, smacking his arm and stepping back quickly. "Behave!"  
  
"Is he getting fresh again?" Lina asked, walking up to them with Gourry at her heels.  
  
"I'm trying to, _mon amie_," Xellos retorted, looking over to the redhead with a grin.  
  
Lina chuckled. "Are you two ready to go in?" She looked around. "Where's Amelia and Zelgadis?"  
  
"I would venture that Amelia is too wrapped up in her _amourette_ to watch the time," Xellos said, "and as for the picture, I would not really care to spend my time here."  
  
"What's up, Xellos?" Gourry asked.  
  
"The plot, from what I have heard, harbors no interest with me. I would rather spend my time doing other things."  
  
Filia heard Amelia's voice, and looked away, seeing her quickly approaching with Zelgadis following a few feet behind.  
  
"I'm sorry if we're late! We were talking in the library and I lost track of the time," she said, coming to a stop by them.  
  
"I don't think it's started yet," Lina replied. "So c'mon, let's go in."  
  
Filia glanced to Xellos and frowned at his increasingly annoyed expression. "I'll talk to you later, Lina," Filia said, taking his arm.  
  
"Aren't you coming too?" Amelia asked.  
  
"For the last time, no. I don't feel like watching this particular picture," Xellos said, giving her a polite smile. "Filia and I have other plans."  
  
"Your loss." Amelia turned away, and walked to the ticket counter.  
  
Filia raised an eyebrow, blinking in surprise, and she was not the only one. She had fully expected Amelia to show disappointment, not indifference. Filia looked up at Xellos, only to find his gaze locked with Zelgadis. Growing wary, she looked over to Lina.  
  
It wasn't escaping her friend, either. Lina quickly stepped between them and grabbed Zelgadis' arm, ushering him to the ticket booth. "Gotta hurry or we'll miss the movie." She waved to Filia and Xellos. "Have fun, you two!"  
  
Filia tugged Xellos' arm lightly. "Let's go, please?" she whispered.  
  
He finally looked away and smiled down at her, brushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. "But of course, _mon amour_."  
  
"What was that all about?" Filia asked as they walked to his car. Xellos shrugged.  
  
"Who can say what goes on in the minds of others, non?" He opened the door for her. "Shall we return to my house?"  
  
As much as Filia did not like his mother, she knew it was the best alternative. "That would probably be better. Grandfather is visiting Baton Rouge, and although he's staying in the cottage, he _is_ up at the main house a great deal," she replied as she scooted past the wheel across the vinyl   
  
Xellos smirked as he slid onto the seat beside her and shut the door. "How about that. Why is he staying at the cottage? Did your father kick him out?"  
  
"Hardly! The servants drive him mad." Filia frowned. "He's my grandfather, Xellos. Be nice."  
  
"But I am, Filia dear." He kissed her, then started up the car.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
mon amie - my friend, feminine  
amourette - literally, 'little love'. Often used with the connotation of 'puppy love'.  
mon amour - my love  
  



End file.
